


The Library

by 17FandomsInATrenchcoat



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Hargreeves Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28775388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/17FandomsInATrenchcoat/pseuds/17FandomsInATrenchcoat
Summary: A collection of moments within the Hargreeves family library throughout the family’s history.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Bookshelves Are Where My Friends Stay

1996

Despite everything in the library dwarfing his little body, Ben felt right at home. Though the library was technically part of the larger mansion where Ben lived, this singular room was different. The rows of books often felt more like family than those who he lived with. And the armchair he clambered into each day parented and comforted him more than Reginald ever had. Reaching for a new book off the shelf, Ben frowned. The pain in his head hadn’t gone away, even after the glass of water Mom had given him. Maybe reading something would help take his mind off of it. With a fresh volume clasped in his little fingers he settled down into the armchair and opened it up. As he read all he could hear was the sound of his fingers against the paper as he fiddled with it when trying to turn the page. It was nice. There was no shouting, no headaches. The house was never quiet, but in Ben’s mind the library wasn’t the house, it was his own little world, where he could feel peaceful even while reading about thrilling adventures. Some days he would run through the paragraphs, desperate to reach the ending but today he strolled along the road each word paved, taking in each detail. Well, as much as a seven year old can do so. It didn’t take long for Ben to become totally engrossed in a book and this one was no exception. Each book he read was like a new friend, welcoming and warm. And always there for him. Books were constant, sturdy and structured. Reading the book was like hanging out with said friend in a quiet spot. Tranquility was however, never long lived in the Hargreeves household.

”Benny! Can you come play with me? We’re doing odds versus evens hide and seek and it’s not fair if it’s just me and Diego against everyone else!”. Klaus flopped himself over the arm of the chair that Ben wasn’t leaning on and sighed dramatically. Ben felt a little annoyance flare up in him. He had gotten to a really good chapter before Klaus had barged in. Instead of protesting Ben just rolled his eyes and heaved himself out of the armchair, already missing its embrace. He would go and play with his siblings. He would probably get another headache. But what he really wanted was to be alone.

All Ben wanted was to be alone in the library.


	2. Full Shelves & Empty Chairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Library reminds Vanya of a missing Five.

2002

Five had been missing for three weeks now. There was an emptiness that filled not only his seat at the table, but conversation and training. And Vanya. After a week the quiet optimism she had clung onto was flickering out and at this point she only dared hold onto the faintest sliver of hope. That sliver stayed up late making sandwiches and flicking on light switches. But that sliver was nowhere to be found when Vanya stayed up at night worrying with damp eyes. It was nowhere to be found now as she stared sadly at the chair in the library where Five usually sat and read. The pillows seemed to have a thin layer of dust beginning to settle onto them, which only shrank the sliver once again. It shouldn’t be collecting dust she wanted to shout. But no one had dared touch Five’s chair, not even Mom to clean it. The more she thought about everything the worse she felt. She felt like she was drowning, with waves of confusion and hurt crashing down again and again. She knew she should have taken her anxiety medication before coming in here. This was the first time she had set foot in the library since Five had ran away and as she had suspected it didn’t feel right without him. There were just too many memories of him in that chair.

Five would sit there reading for hours, finishing entire books in one sitting. On several occasions Vanya brought him water to make sure he remembered to drink something. When she read alongside him he would help her with words she didn’t understand, and every so often her, Five and Ben would all read the same book together, like a book club. Maybe one day just her and Ben could do it. Not right now though. All Vanya wanted was Five to glare at her every time she was about to dog ear a page. She just wanted him to be sitting next to her.

Her emotions were welling up inside her. It was all too much, being in the library. Five’s presence or lack thereof weighted down on her like a ton and she wanted to just break down. The thump of books falling was heard next to her. But no one had touched them. Vanya rose from the chair and left the library briskly. She just needed to take her medication and everything would feel better. Maybe it would all just go away. 

Maybe Five would just come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, I do not ship Five and Vanya, I just think they had a strong friendship.


	3. Worn Pages and Cracked Spines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five visits the crumbling family library.

2019

Five had been stuck in the apocalypse for three weeks now. He had searched for any sign of life nearby but at this point he had come to accept that he was stuck here alone. Five knew that his survival was dependent upon his own ability to be as pragmatic as possible and that sentiment would not keep him alive. Yet for the third time this week he found himself standing in the ruins of the Hargreeves family library. Looking at his home decimated was painful and the dead bodies surrounding it more so yet he kept finding himself back here. It hit him each time returned that he might never get to see his siblings grow up to be the people who lay at his feet. Thinking about that wasn’t going to help him get back home or stay alive that one minute more but he was too tired from walking nonstop looking for supplies and too drained from being thrust into this hellscape with no way out to care about the practicality of his emotions. By the time Five had gotten past all the rubble and reached what was left of the library he practically crumbled to the ground. He just sat there, staring forward. That’s all his life was now, look forward, move forward, think forward. Yet here he was, sitting surrounded by the past. 

He should have just listened to Dad. It was a special kind of frustration when your least favourite person (a hefty title considering Fives general disdain for everyone) makes a good point, especially when it was advice you should have heeded. Holding his head in his hands, Five sighed. He wanted to cry, to let out the plethora of emotions he knew were building but instead he just… didn’t. He couldn’t feel anything strongly enough to let tears fall. Everything just felt like a sad tinged nothingness, like a blunt dull ache. He let a scream come hurtling out of his lungs. A raw painful scream. A scream for the world, for his family, for himself, for his childhood, for his loss. But it didn’t make the hollowness go away. It just hurt. Five stood up, looked at the library, a place where he had spent a large few of the happy moments in his life so far and kicked the rubble. It didn’t mean anything anymore. It couldn’t. There was only one item of practical value left there, so Five grabbed it and walked away. He didn’t know when he would return. The object he had taken was thrown into the red toy wagon he’d started pulling with him. It was one of the few undamaged books left; Extraordinary: My Life as No. 7 by Vanya Hargreeves. And while Five planned on using it as paper to write in equations on maybe he would read it. Maybe there was comfort to be found in knowing that at least his family got their lives, even if they would be… cut short. Maybe it could be a way to feel like he was there for some of it. 

Maybe he didn’t have to miss everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m aware that in the canon of the show Five found Vanya’s book at some other library but this fits my story better.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic so while I appreciate constructive criticism please don’t be too harsh. I’ll try and add new chapters regularly but they’ll be pretty short for this story in particular.


End file.
